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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Sophie describe Ben to Jess?

2. What is the name of a foster-mother Jess remembers having had?

3. How does the novel gloss "chambres de bonne"?

4. What label of wine does Jess pilfer after leaving the hidden staircase?

5. What instrument does Mimi assume Ben plays?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Mimi note is Camille's usual clubbing practice?

2. Why does Jess note smelling of vinegar when she arrives in Paris?

3. What history of the building does Nick rehearse to Jess?

4. How do Jacque and Sophie describe Ben to one another after Sophie's first meeting with Ben?

5. What is noted as for sale at the bakery Jess visits on her first morning in Paris?

6. What security measures does Jess note on the gate to the building where Ben lives?

7. What reason does Antoine’s wife voice for not disclosing information to Jess?

8. Mimi notes that Camille "leaves [things] scattered around [the apartment] like it's an extension of her bedroom" (21); to what things does Mimi refer?

9. What does Jess note is her main problem in life (24)?

10. How does the concierge describe her lodgings?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How reliable are the narrators of the novel? What in the text indicates that reliability, and how does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

Sources attest to the presence of The Paris Apartment on best-seller lists. Assuming that sales figures reflect popularity, what accounts for the popularity of the novel? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

References to particular software platforms and businesses in the novel set it in a specific point in time. How might the novel have been different if set in another major cultural moment, such as the 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s? Why would it have been different in those ways?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 535 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample